Mississippi · Remodeling licensing · official-source guide
The Mississippi State Board of Contractors licenses remodelers statewide under Miss. Code Ann. Chapter 73-59. A Residential Remodeler license is required once improvements to an existing residence exceed $10,000 in total cost. You pass a Law and Business Management exam plus a trade exam, show general liability insurance, and renew every year with two continuing education hours.
Verified against agency sources on 2026-10-05. Rules and fees change; confirm with the named authority before relying on this guide.
Remodeling is licensed at the state level in Mississippi by the Mississippi State Board of Contractors, usually written MSBOC. The board is created in Section 31-3-3 of the Mississippi Code and is made up of ten members appointed to staggered terms by the Governor. The members hire the executive director and set licensing policy. The agency sits at 2679 Crane Ridge Drive, Suite C, Jackson, with mail going to P.O. Box 320279, Jackson MS 39232, and takes calls at 601-354-6161 or 800-880-6161. The law that governs your side of the trade is Miss. Code Ann. Chapter 73-59, titled for residential builders and remodelers. That chapter defines a "remodeler" as a separate regulated role from a residential builder, sets the dollar threshold that pulls you under the chapter, and gives the board power to investigate, discipline and fine. Chapter 73-59 also creates the Standing Committee on Residential Builders and Remodelers, which is subordinate to the State Board of Contractors and gives the residential side of the industry a seat in how the rules get written. No Mississippi city or county issues the remodeling license itself. Cities and counties issue building permits, and some of them require a separate local contractor license on top of the state one, but the credential that lets you contract for residential improvement work in Mississippi comes from MSBOC and from nowhere else. Commercial work above a separate threshold runs on a different document, the Certificate of Responsibility.
Mississippi does not license every person who swings a hammer in a house. It licenses the contractor by project size. Miss. Code Ann. 73-59-1 defines a remodeler as any corporation, partnership or individual who, for a fixed price, commission, fee, wage or other compensation, undertakes or offers to undertake the construction or superintending of the construction of improvements to an existing residence when the total cost of the improvements exceeds $10,000. MSBOC states the same rule in plainer words: if you are performing residential remodeling or roofing over $10,000 you need a Residential Remodeling or Roofing license from the board. Two numbers matter and they are not the same. Remodeling of an existing residence crosses into licensed territory above $10,000. New residential construction, under the separate definition of residential builder, crosses over above $50,000 for a structure of not more than three floors used as a residence. A kitchen gut and rebuild at $14,000 needs the license. A new house at $40,000 does not need the builder license, though local permit rules still apply. Note the words "offers to undertake." The obligation attaches when you bid or contract, not when you start demolition. Splitting one $18,000 improvement into two invoices does not move the job below the line, because the statute measures the total cost of the improvements. Construction managers who contract directly with the owner for residential improvement are listed separately in 73-59-3 and must be licensed as well, even when the owner holds the permit.
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MSBOC does not issue one blanket residential license. The residential application lists the classifications you check off, and each one carries its own scope and its own trade exam. Residential Builder covers new construction, construction management, remodeling and roofing. Residential Remodeler covers remodeling and roofing. Residential Roofer covers roofing only. The application also lists Construction Manager, which requires the Residential Building exam, Residential Solar, Residential Mechanical covering HVAC and plumbing with both exams required, Residential HVAC, Residential Plumbing and Residential Electrical. The practical reading for a remodeling company is that the Residential Builder classification is a superset of the Residential Remodeler classification. If you hold Residential Builder you may already perform remodeling and roofing without adding a second class. If you hold Residential Remodeler and later want to build new houses above the builder threshold, you are adding a classification, not editing your existing one. Adding a class is a form and a fee rather than a fresh application. MSBOC charges $100 for each additional class added to a license and will tell you whether a trade exam is required for the class you are adding. The board also notes that Mississippi Law and Business Management is not a trade classification at all. It is a required exam that sits on top of whichever trade classes you request. One more scope rule is worth knowing. Under 73-59-19, a licensed residential builder may construct, improve, repair, remodel or renovate a commercial structure without any additional state license, provided the contract job does not exceed 7,500 square feet. MSBOC adds a three floor height limit to that same allowance.
Chapter 73-59 carries a written exemption list in Section 73-59-15, and knowing it keeps you from arguing with homeowners who think they can hire anyone. The chapter does not apply to agricultural buildings or buildings used for agricultural purposes, buildings constructed as a community effort, or tenant houses. It does not apply to a person who improves his own residence or acts as his own general contractor on his own residence. It does not apply to someone doing residential improvement for an owner related by consanguinity or direct affinity, provided the property will not be for sale, rent, public use or public assembly. Property owners who supervise or direct construction, alteration, repair or improvement on their own property for their own use, and not for sale, rent, public use or public assembly, are also outside the chapter. So is any contractor who already holds a valid license or Certificate of Responsibility for general construction from the board, and any nonresident contractor holding one. There is a narrow carve out for a person who constructs two single residences or less in a year in a county or municipality that requires no building permit or local certification, as long as the residences are not being built for sale. The owner builder exemption has teeth on it. Under 73-59-15(2), a person using that exemption may not make more than one application for a permit to construct a single residence, or construct more than one single residence, within a year. If they do, the statute creates a rebuttable presumption that they intended to build for sale, lease or rent, which pulls them back under the licensing chapter.
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The MSBOC residential application is a paper package mailed to P.O. Box 320279, Jackson, MS 39232-0279, and it must be notarized before mailing. Fees are non-refundable and payment is by check or money order only. Cash is not accepted. An application file that is not completed within 180 days is destroyed, so partial submissions have a shelf life. The documentation list is specific. A corporation or LLC must be registered with the Mississippi Secretary of State and must provide proof of good standing, with the name on the application matching the registered name exactly. A printout from the Secretary of State website is acceptable and no official certificate is needed. The applicant must furnish a Mississippi Income Tax ID number, a federal tax ID number or a Social Security number. The applicant must provide a certificate of general liability insurance showing current coverage, with MSBOC named as certificate holder so the board is notified if coverage is cancelled, and the insured name must match the application name exactly. Workers compensation coverage must be documented if the applicant has five or more employees. Three reference letters are required, one of them from a bank and the other two from people you have worked with or for on construction related projects. All three are required even if you have already passed an exam. You must show experience in the classification you request by listing at least three completed jobs in that class, so a Residential Remodeling applicant lists three completed remodeling jobs. Proof of employment of the qualifying party is required unless you apply in an individual name.
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Every residential applicant takes the Mississippi Law and Business Management exam. On top of that, applicants take a trade exam matched to the classification requested. All exams are open book. All of them are administered by PSI, the board's testing vendor. Rule 1.1(m) of the board's rules sets the passing standard at a grade of at least 70 percent. The order of operations catches people out. You submit the application first. MSBOC then sends you a PSI Candidate Information Bulletin with registration instructions, a list of allowed reference materials and the exam content outlines, and sends the qualifier's information to PSI. No candidate is allowed to schedule an exam until MSBOC has sent that information across, which is why a valid email address on the application matters. PSI emails you once you are in their system, and only then can you book a seat. A company tests through a qualifying party. Any officer or managing employee can take the exam on behalf of the company. You may have more than one qualifier, and different qualifiers for different classifications. A qualifying party may serve no more than three separate entities without first appearing before the board and being granted special permission. The qualifying party portion of the application must be completed for each person who will test. Once the board has the full file and the passing scores, the application goes to the board for review. MSBOC processes completed applications weekly and says the board process plus issuance usually takes about a week to ten days. Changing or adding a qualifying party later carries a $25 fee.
The board publishes a fee schedule, and the residential numbers are small compared with the commercial side. The residential application fee is $50, and that $50 includes one trade classification. Each additional trade classification requested on the same application is $100. Residential license renewal is $100. The residential renewal late fee is $10. Other line items from the same schedule and from the board's rules: a request to transfer a license to inactive status is $25, and a request to transfer back to active status is $25. A request for waiver of an exam is $50, charged per exam waived under reciprocity. A request for change in qualifying party is $25. A name change is $50. A duplicate residential license is $50, and the board's rules put the replacement fee for a lost, mutilated or destroyed license at $25 on written request. A returned check costs $40. Reciprocity or verification of a license is $25. For contrast, so you can see which document you are buying: a commercial application is $400, commercial renewal is $400, the commercial late fee is $50, and a commercial additional classification is $100. If your remodeling company also bids commercial work above the commercial threshold, that is a second and far more expensive credential. Statute caps the residential license fee rather than leaving it open. Under 73-59-3, the initial license fee is $50 and the fee the board may later set cannot exceed $100. An emergency license issued after a catastrophe under 73-59-7 carries a fee not to exceed $50.
Mississippi ties your remodeling license to proof of general liability insurance, not to a dollar figure the board publishes. Rule 1.1(k) of the board's rules says an applicant for a residential builder or remodeler license, or a renewal of one, shall provide a copy of a certificate of insurance evidencing current coverage for general liability purposes. The Mississippi State Board of Contractors must be listed on the policy so the board is notified if coverage is cancelled. The residential application repeats this and adds that the insured name on the certificate must match the name you apply under exactly. Liability insurance is not required for inactive licensees. Workers compensation is handled by thresholds rather than a flat rule. Section 73-59-3(2) requires proof of workers compensation insurance as a prerequisite to a license or renewal if it is required by applicable law, and exempts inactive licensees. The residential application states the operating test: provide a certificate showing current workers compensation coverage if the applicant has five or more employees. Chapter 73-59 does not impose a surety bond as a condition of holding a Residential Remodeler license. The only bond figure in the chapter is procedural rather than a licensing bond. Under 73-59-13, a party appealing a board penalty to chancery court must give bond with sufficient security in the amount of $250, or may post $250 with the clerk instead. Local government is a separate matter. Gulfport, for example, tells contractors working through its community development programs that they must be licensed, bonded and insured to work in the city and the state, so bonding can appear as a city or program condition even though the state license does not require one.
A Mississippi residential license runs for one year and the contractor, not the board, owns the calendar. Section 73-59-3(5) says the license expires on the last day of the twelfth month following its issuance or renewal and becomes invalid unless renewed. The board may notify licensees by mail or email of the expiration date and the renewal amount, and notices go out within thirty days before expiration, but the board's rules state plainly that failure of the board to notify you does not excuse you from renewing. MSBOC also frames the annual duty as a privilege tax obligation under the chapter. Missing the date is not fatal if you move quickly. The statute preserves the right of renewal provided it is effected within 180 days after the expiration date, by paying the license fee plus a penalty of ten percent of the fee. The published fee schedule puts the residential renewal at $100 and the residential renewal late fee at $10, which lines up with that ten percent figure. Renewal can be done online through the board's secure portal or by mailing the residential renewal form. If you are not building or remodeling for a stretch, the chapter distinguishes an active licensee from an inactive licensee rather than forcing you to drop the license. The board may place a license on inactive status for a charge of not more than $50 under the statute, and the published schedule lists $25 to transfer to inactive and $25 to transfer back to active. An inactive licensee may become active again on application, and inactive licensees are not required to carry liability insurance.
Mississippi keeps the continuing education load on residential licensees deliberately light, and the statute caps it. Section 73-59-11(g) lets the board require continuing education for any residential builder or remodeler licensed under the chapter, but says no more than two hours of continuing education shall be required by the board per year. The same subsection exempts any residential builder or remodeler who held a valid license under the chapter before July 1, 2015. MSBOC applies that authority as follows. Each qualifying party for a residential license must complete two credit hours of continuing education taught by a board approved provider or instructor in order to maintain a residential license, pursuant to Miss. Code Ann. 73-59-11. The requirement applies to all residential licenses issued on or after July 1, 2015. The obligation sits on the qualifying party, the person who took the exam, rather than on every employee of the company. Proof is filed with the renewal. The board's continuing education rule states that proof of having completed two credit hours of continuing education must be submitted each year with the renewal application, and that license holders who cannot demonstrate compliance will not be allowed to renew. That makes the two hours a renewal gate, not a suggestion. The board does not dictate which courses you take. It says each individual must exercise judgment in selecting courses, and that it will not mandate specific courses unless continuing education has been ordered as the result of a disciplinary hearing, where 73-59-13(5) lets the board order additional education not to exceed two hours per violation. MSBOC publishes a searchable list of approved providers, instructors and courses.
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Mississippi reciprocity is narrower than contractors expect. MSBOC is explicit that reciprocity applies to waiver of a trade exam only. It does not waive any other application requirement, and it does not waive board review. If you have held a license for three consecutive years in one of the reciprocating states, the board will waive the trade exam, and you will still be required to take the Mississippi Law and Business Management exam. There is a $50 fee for each exam waived, and fees are non-refundable. The residential application lists the boards MSBOC has reciprocity agreements with, including the Alabama General Contractors Board, Alabama Home Builders Licensure Board, Arkansas Contractor Licensing Board, California Contractors State License Board, Florida Construction Industries Licensing Board, Georgia Board of Residential and General Contractors, Louisiana Licensing Board for Contractors, Ohio Construction Industry Licensing Board, North Carolina Licensing Board for General Contractors and the Tennessee Board for Licensing Contractors. Conditions differ by state. The Georgia and South Carolina residential boards require that you actually took that state's exam. Some mechanical, plumbing and electrical classes cannot be waived at all depending on where you are coming from. You apply for the waiver by submitting a Reciprocity Verification Form completed by the board you are reciprocating from, and the board's own reciprocity page carries the current exclusions. Two other routes exist. The Military Family Freedom Act, Miss. Code Ann. 73-50-1 et seq., covers active duty military members, spouses and dependents, using form MFFA. The Universal Recognition of Occupational Licenses Act, 73-50-2 et seq., covers individuals who establish Mississippi residence after July 1, 2021, using form UROL. Neither guarantees licensure.
Two different penalties apply to remodeling without the license, and the second one is the expensive one. The criminal exposure is in Section 73-59-9(1). Any person or entity required to be licensed under 73-59-3(1) who undertakes or attempts to undertake the business of residential construction without a valid license, or who knowingly files false information with the board to obtain a license, is guilty of a misdemeanor. On conviction the fine is not less than $100 and not more than $5,000, or imprisonment of not less than thirty nor more than sixty days in the county jail, or both. The commercial exposure is in 73-59-9(2), and it is the one that ends companies. A contractor who did not hold the required license at the time the remodeling services were rendered may not bring any action, at law or in equity, to enforce the contract. The contractor is permitted to recover only actual documented expenses for labor, materials or both, and only those expenses provable by clear and convincing evidence. A $40,000 remodel performed unlicensed is not a $40,000 receivable. Your profit is gone and your proof burden is raised. The board can also stop you mid job. Section 73-59-9(3) gives MSBOC authority to issue a citation and stop work on a residential builder or remodeler working without a valid license. Separately, 73-59-13(5) lets the board reprimand publicly or privately, suspend or revoke the license, order additional education, and assess a monetary penalty of not less than $100 and not more than $5,000 for each violation. MSBOC runs a Statewide Investigative Team that visits jobsites weekly to verify the licenses of contractors and subcontractors, and publishes a violators database.
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Mississippi puts one mandatory clause in your remodeling contract, and it is prescriptive down to the font size. Section 73-59-11 requires the holder of a valid license to disclose to the owner or other person with whom the holder is contracting, at the signing of a contract or the initial agreement to perform work, whether the holder carries general liability insurance. The disclosure must be written. Its structure and composition are determined by the State Board of Contractors. It must be placed immediately before the space reserved in the contract for the signature of the purchaser, and it must be in boldfaced and conspicuous type larger than the type used for the rest of the contract. Rule 1.3 of the board's rules supplies the exact wording. A residential builder, remodeler or roofer provides written disclosure at the time of contracting in these words: "Mississippi law requires that I inform you that I DO carry general liability insurance insuring my work under this contract. The name of the insurer is ________, and the policy number is ________. By your signature below, you signify your understanding and acknowledgement of this fact." You fill in the insurer name and the policy number. Treat that as a template obligation, not a one off. If your remodeling proposals, change orders and signature blocks come out of a document generator, the clause has to be in the generator, in bold, in a larger size than the body text, directly above the homeowner signature line. Chapter 73-59 itself sets no cooling off period or right of rescission for a residential remodeling contract. MSBOC separately advises homeowners to require a written contract describing the work, the materials, the equipment, a payment schedule and a completion timeline, and to put every change in writing.
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Mississippi regulates display at the jobsite rather than on your vehicles and website, and the rule is unusually specific. Rule 1.2 of the board's rules, titled Display of Building Permit, applies once a building permit is issued to a residential builder or remodeler, or to the holder of a Certificate of Responsibility, by a municipal or county building official or any other authority charged with issuing local building permits. The licensed residential builder or residential remodeler, or Certificate of Responsibility holder, shall exhibit a sign at the permitted job site which includes, prominently displayed in lettering at least two inches high and twelve inches wide, the license or Certificate of Responsibility number and the state issuing it. So the sign carries your MSBOC number and the word Mississippi, in lettering at that minimum size, on every permitted remodeling job. The board's rules source that requirement to Miss. Code Ann. 73-59-11(f), the board's general rulemaking authority, which means it is enforceable through the ordinary disciplinary route in 73-59-13 rather than through a separate advertising penalty. The practical exposure is the same monetary penalty of not less than $100 and not more than $5,000 per violation, plus reprimand, suspension or revocation. What the license lets you call yourself follows the classification language in the application and the chapter. Holding Residential Remodeler lets you contract for remodeling and roofing. It does not make you a residential builder, a residential mechanical contractor, a residential electrical contractor or a residential plumbing contractor, each of which is a separate class with its own exam. Chapter 73-59 does not publish a list of prohibited advertising phrases, so the controlling limit is simply that you do not hold yourself out for work outside the classes on your license.
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The state license does not replace local permitting, and Mississippi law deliberately wires the two together. Section 73-59-17 orders the building official, or other authority charged with issuing building or similar permits, of any municipality or county to refuse to issue a permit for any undertaking that would classify the applicant as a residential builder or remodeler unless the applicant has furnished evidence of being licensed or exempt. The same official must report to the board the name and address of anyone who, in his opinion, has violated the chapter by accepting or contracting to do work that would classify them as a residential builder or remodeler without a license. Your permit clerk is a licensing checkpoint and a complaint source. Section 73-59-18 adds a revenue condition. All residential contractors, in order to obtain a building permit in Mississippi, shall possess a permit from the Department of Revenue issued under Section 27-65-27. For that section, a residential contractor is anyone contracting with an owner of residential real estate to repair or renovate any portion of a residence, regardless of project cost and regardless of whether insurance pays. The section does not apply to a residential contractor with a permanent place of business in Mississippi or licensed under Section 31-3-1. In Jackson, the city requires permits for new construction, additions, structural alterations and specific repair or replacement projects, with building, roofing, electrical, plumbing and mechanical permits among the common types, and states that work performed without required permits may lead to enforcement actions, delays or corrective requirements. In Gulfport, contractors working with the city are asked for both their MSBOC registration and license and a City of Gulfport license, which shows the local credential sitting on top of the state one.
MSBOC runs a free public license lookup at search.msboc.us, with a consolidated search that takes either a name or a license number. The board instructs searchers to enter numbers only and to leave off any letter prefix or suffix. The search page carries a disclosure that circumstances may have changed since publication and recommends contacting the office before acting on the results. A separate violators database is published alongside it. Expect customers to use it, because the board tells them to. The MSBOC consumer guidance tells homeowners to get proof that the contractor is licensed, to contact the state licensing board to check the status of the license, and to work only with contractors who are currently licensed. The same page tells them to compare two or three estimates on materials and quality rather than bottom line price, to ask for three written references, to require a written contract, to avoid a large down payment, to pay as work is completed and never in cash, and to monitor the job in progress. Your license status, your classification and your expiration date are all part of the sales conversation whether you raise them or not. Statute also requires the board to maintain a list of residential builders and remodelers whose licenses are issued, refused, revoked or suspended, available to any interested person, and to prepare an annual roster forwarded to every municipality and county and filed with the Secretary of State. On the money, Chapter 73-59 creates no homeowner recovery or guaranty fund that pays claims against a licensed remodeler. Section 73-59-3 directs $25 of the residential fee to the Construction Education Fund created under Section 31-3-14, distributed to the Mississippi Housing Institute, with the remainder going to the State Board of Contractors Fund under Section 31-3-17 for administration and enforcement.
These are common details other guides publish about Mississippi, but we could not verify them from the agency source. Confirm them directly before relying on them.
No. Miss. Code Ann. 73-59-1 defines a remodeler by project size, and the definition applies when the total cost of improvements to an existing residence exceeds $10,000. Below that, no MSBOC residential license is required for the remodeling itself. You still need local building permits, and the city or county permit office sets those rules.
No. The statute measures the total cost of the improvements, not the size of each invoice, and it attaches when you undertake or offer to undertake the work. Two $9,000 contracts for one $18,000 improvement do not move the job below the line. MSBOC can issue a citation and stop work on an unlicensed remodeler.
Residential Remodeler covers remodeling and roofing. Residential Builder is broader and covers new construction, construction management, remodeling and roofing. If you only improve existing homes, Residential Remodeler fits. If you also build new houses above the builder threshold, request Residential Builder instead, or add the class later for $100.
Two. Every residential applicant takes the Mississippi Law and Business Management exam, and then a trade exam for the classification requested. All exams are open book and all are given by PSI. The board's rules require a grade of at least 70 percent. You cannot schedule until MSBOC sends your qualifier information to PSI.
The residential application fee is $50 and includes one trade classification. Each additional trade classification is $100. Renewal is $100 a year, with a $10 late fee. Transferring to inactive status is $25 and back to active is $25. An exam waiver under reciprocity costs $50 per exam waived.
Chapter 73-59 does not impose a licensing surety bond on residential remodelers. It requires a certificate of general liability insurance naming MSBOC so the board learns of cancellation, plus workers compensation proof where law requires it. Local governments can still demand bonding. Gulfport, for instance, asks program contractors to be licensed, bonded and insured.
A written general liability insurance disclosure. Section 73-59-11 requires it at signing, placed immediately before the purchaser signature space, in boldfaced conspicuous type larger than the rest of the contract. Rule 1.3 supplies exact wording naming your insurer and policy number. Build it into your proposal template rather than adding it by hand.
Rule 1.2 requires a jobsite sign once a local building permit is issued. It must prominently display, in lettering at least two inches high and twelve inches wide, your license or Certificate of Responsibility number and the state issuing it. That means your MSBOC number and Mississippi, at that minimum lettering size, on every permitted job.
Section 73-59-9(2) bars you from any action at law or in equity to enforce the contract. You may recover only actual documented expenses for labor, materials or both, and only what you can prove by clear and convincing evidence. Your profit is unrecoverable. A misdemeanor fine of $100 to $5,000 also applies on conviction.
Two credit hours, taught by a board approved provider or instructor, for each qualifying party on a residential license. Statute caps the board at two hours per year. Proof goes in with the annual renewal, and the board will not renew a license without it. Licenses held before July 1, 2015 are exempt.
Only the trade exam, and only if you have held the license three consecutive years in a reciprocating state. The Mississippi Law and Business Management exam is still required. The waiver costs $50 per exam, needs a Reciprocity Verification Form from the other board, and waives no other application requirement or board review.
At the MSBOC consolidated search at search.msboc.us, by company name or by license number with no letter prefix or suffix. The board tells homeowners to confirm current licensure before hiring and publishes a violators database beside the lookup. Statute also makes the board keep a public list of licenses issued, refused, revoked or suspended.
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